Sony Pictures is Making a Big $4 Billion Bet on the Spider-Man Franchise

Sony pushes Spider-Man 3 release date back two years, with plans to launch a series of action-packed films prior to 2018.

Columbia Pictures, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment (SNE), revealed its new release strategy Wednesday at the opening of Comic-Con, a nearly $4 billion bet by the beleaguered film studio in the Spider-Man franchise.

Franchise fatigue and competition for superheroes have been hurdles for this movie empire to climb in the past, but today it announced several new films allowing for story development and new characters -- all ultimately leading up to the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 3 in 2018 -- two years later than previously planned.

Sinister Six, the next film in line for the superhero franchise, is scheduled to hit theaters on November 11, 2016, written and directed by Drew Goddard and produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach.

"With Sinister Six in the hands of writer-director Drew Goddard, we feel extremely confident placing the film on a prime date in 2016," Doug Belgrad, president of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said in a press statement.

The super villains of Sinister Six, including Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Sandman and the Vulture, were drawn from Spider-Man's list of enemies, and Sony hopes to expand the Spider-Man universe prior to the 2018 release date by bringing in these new characters.

Uncharted, another highly anticipated project, especially for video game fanatics, will be released June 10, 2016, when The Amazing Spider-Man 3 was originally scheduled to open in theaters.